Printed receipt severing

Abstract

A printed paper dispensing and severing apparatus includes an elongated paper to be printed, dispensed and severed. A printer including a positive drive mechanism projects paper along a guide path to an exit chute in a housing, the guide path being defined at least in part by a deflection plate so that the projection of the paper will encounter the deflection plate and be guided to exit the housing. A cutting mechanism adjacent the guide path includes a blade with a centrally peaked ridge in a guide surface generally parallel to the guide path. The reliability of this mechanism is dramatically improved due the absence of moving parts in the guide path, cutter blade, deflection plate and exit chute. The guide path and the exit chute are angled to one another, the elongated paper is provided in the form of a roll of paper which gives the paper a curl and the curl of the paper is in the same sense as the angle. Thus, paper projected along the guide path by the positive drive mechanism passes against the blade and through the exit chute to exit the housing in an untensioned condition. The subsequent application of a tension to the paper cuts the paper against the blade, producing an essentially straight cut.